Op-Ed: The Costs We Pay to Use AI

Artificial intelligence is rapidly integrating into our daily routines, whether in personal or academic settings. As AI becomes more widespread, its expansion is fundamentally reshaping industries and raising questions about its broader environmental impact.  

One of the main environmental concerns revolves around AI data centers, which require gigawatts of power and vast amounts of water for cooling, causing concerns of regional water depletion. 

In an interview with the investigative journalist group, More Perfect Union, Julie Bolthouse, director of land use at Piedmont Environmental Council, speaks on the number of AI data centers that have taken hold of Loudon county in Virginia: “There’s a race to ensure that these companies have enough space to grow out what they hope to be the future of AI.” In the area she refers to, there are already over 200 data centers.  

A somewhat new participant in this race is xAI, founded in 2023 by Elon Musk. Their main product is the AI chatbot, Grok. Although Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI, he left in 2018 over disagreements in the general direction of the company and overlapping concerns with Tesla’s own AI initiatives. 

What makes xAI’s ambitions particularly challenging is the pace at which the company aims to operate. Musk has said that data‑center providers quoted “timeframes from 18 to 24 months.” However, the goal was to get one operating much faster. An abandoned Electrolux plant in Memphis, Tennessee was the chosen location for one of the world’s largest supercomputers, xAI’s “Gigafactory of Compute,” Colossus, and it was built in about four months.  

To meet the power demands of the facility, xAI brought in mobile gas turbines because the city’s power grid would not suffice. According to Southern Environmental Law Center, “The turbines at the xAI facility pump out smog-forming pollution, nitrogen oxides or NOx, and harmful chemicals like formaldehyde.” 

While xAI claimed to be operating 15 turbines out of the 35 present at the facility, according to Memphis Mayor Paul Young, after a photographer captured thermal pictures, at one point in time, it appeared that 33 out of the 35 turbines were “giving off significant amounts of heat,” indicating that they were in use.  

According to Politico, Colossus is located in an area where the air quality is already considered unhealthy due to smog. While xAI argued to local authorities that “the electricity-generating turbines were exempt from requirements for air quality permits,” according to The Guardian, the EPA has maintained that gas turbines require air permits, “even if they are used on a portable or temporary basis.” 

On Feb. 13, 2026, Abre’ Conner, the director of environmental and climate justice for the NAACP released a notice of intent to sue xAI for violating the Clean Air Act “by installing and operating polluting gas-fired turbines without obtaining any permits.” 

With more of these AI data centers in development, a question arises. What is the true cost of this growth? 

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